a bit of news that you lucky forumites will be the very first to hear! it's not official yet, so if anything that i say in this post ends up NOT happening, then you'll know why i'm announcing it here instead of the front page.

i've got a little side project going on now, that has been getting less and less little as the summer chugs on... it's something that i'm very excited about, and may also be the answer to my recent frustrations about comic stripping. there's a chance that it will usurp Quid Pro Quo in my creative affections.

here's what the project is, basically: Chris Renk -- a good friend and creative comarade -- and i are collaborating on a children's book... we're both in the process of conceiving the story now, but he's going to do the writing and i'm going to draw the pictures. it will give me an excellent chance to try for some rich, quality art (the best I can do anyway) and to work on something bigger and fresher in a different kind of narrative. we are trying, most of all, to have a good time, which is something i can't always accomplish in the world of comic strips. i will, with Chris's permission, be putting it on this page in its entirety.

what this all means for QPQ is basically a hiatus or an extreme thinning of its production. i doubt i'll be able to cover all these projects at once, and i really do need to take a breather from the strip. perhaps when i come back from this venture i'll be a fresher and more inspired cartoonist, and i can continue making comics. i don't think about the future too much, so we'll have to see. will this mean the end of Quid Pro Quo? i very much doubt it.

i hope you all will tag along to see where this thing goes.. if children's picture books aren't your bag, then you have my permission to bail out. questions? please use this space for them.

a few sketches for ya. this is Delbert (named after Delbert Disselhorst, the organ professor at the University of Iowa school of music). he's not the main character, and he might not look like this in the real thing... you know, things always change. but i kind of liked these.

... but wait! there's more! after i posted that i whipped this thing up in watercolors, to try to define the color style a little bit. i'm notoriously not too good in this medium, but i was pleasantly surprised at this attempt.. the colors mesh well and i managed to make the colors gradiate a little bit instead of making them totally flat. i think i'll be OK as long as i use ink lines to supplement the texture, like i did here. um, but i DO accept advice here, in case there's anyone reading this who knows what they're doing.